Barcelona v Man City Prediction: Guardiola to gain first Florida Cup victory against old side

There's a mouthwatering pre-season friendly in store at the Camping World Stadium on Wednesday (00:00) as Barcelona and Manchester City meet in Orlando, Florida.

The game is part of the Florida Cup, and you can build up to the action by checking out my Barcelona vs Man City prediction below.

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Barcelona warmed up for their trip to the USA with a behind-closed-doors 1-0 win against fourth-tier outfit Olot last Thursday. New head coach Hansi Flick opted for a mix of youth and experience in his first starting XI with Oriol Romeu, Inigo Martinez, Alejandro Balde and Vitor Roque all beginning the game.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ilkay Gundogan and Raphinha have all since joined up with the squad but are unlikely to be risked so soon into their pre-season, and the Spanish giants are still missing a whole host of first-team stars including Euro 2024 winners Pedri, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal.

Robert Lewandowski should be fit to lead the line, however.

Man City took a skeleton first-team squad with them to America due to the absences of several stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva, all of whom are not expected back in Sky Blue colours until the start of the Premier League season.

The Citizens can call on two top goalkeepers - Ederson Moraes and Stefan Ortega - but there is a real lack of experience in defence. Josko Gvardiol got his first minutes of pre-season under his belt in City's 3-2 defeat to AC Milan on Saturday and could join Rico Lewis in the backline against the Blaugrana, while fellow Croatian Mateo Kovacic is looking to make his return having remained on the bench against the Italian giants.

A pair of 21-year-olds - Oscar Bobb and James McAtee - have impressed so far with the former netting in City's first pre-season game, a 4-3 loss to Celtic in Chapel Hill, and the latter in last weekend's defeat.

Erling Haaland has scored in each of City's friendlies and will spearhead their attack again on Wednesday with Jack Grealish providing support from the left-hand side.

Barcelona vs Man City Odds

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Barcelona are underdogs heading into the first leg of their USA tour with odds of 9/4 giving them an implied win probability of 30.8%, while favourites Man City are 4/5, or a 55.6% chance, to triumph in Orlando.

The draw can be backed at 3/1 and you can get both teams to score in the first half, which has landed in each of Man City's friendlies so far, at 13/8.

Man City to win & both teams to score @ 8/5

Man City are yet to taste victory since pitching up stateside earlier this month, but that should change on Wednesday when they face a severely weakened Barcelona side shorn of many top stars.

City's defeat to Celtic in the first leg of their USA tour showed the importance of practice with the Scottish side well ahead of the English champions in their preparations for the new season.

But after two narrow defeats, City should be getting in the groove now, particularly after welcoming the likes of Gvardiol and Kovacic into the fold.

City should stroll to victory at the Camping World Stadium, but after shipping seven goals across two games, they might struggle to keep a clean sheet against a side featuring Lewandowski and co.

Man City to score in both halves @ 1/1

City have been leaking goals in the USA, but they've not found it difficult to score themselves, firing three past Celtic before netting a couple against AC Milan.

Guardiola's side have also managed to strike in all four halves they have played, highlighting their ability to find goals whoever is on the field.

Barcelona will be without arguably their four best defenders - Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Pau Cubarsi - on Wednesday, as well as their first-choice midfield three of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and ex-City skipper Gundogan, so the likes of Haaland and Bobb will be looking to capitalise and increase their pre-season goalscoring tallies.

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